Victims claim their drinks were spiked at bars | Action News Investigation

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A disturbing trend is emerging nationwide, including in Philadelphia, as men and women sound the alarm that they've been drugged in bars.

Social media has been abuzz with increasing incidents.

"I remember thinking like, 'Oh something isn't right,'" Kaitlyn Hirsch told the Action News Investigative Team.

"At the end of the second mocktail that I had, I asked the bartender, 'Hey, are you sure there wasn't anything in this like alcohol? I'm feeling a little weird,'" said added.

Both Hirsch and Lainey Anderson are among the half dozen women who've come forward to the Investigative Team, alleging they were drugged at Philadelphia bars.

"We usually have quite a bit to drink, and I've never had eight hours of my life just disappear completely like that," said Anderson.

In the two separate incidents, both women said they only had a couple of drinks.

From Los Angeles to Boston to even in London there has been extensive reporting of an uptick in people reporting spiked drinks at bars and nightclubs.

Hirsch and Anderson said their bar companions also suspect they were victimized.

"She says she remembers getting in her Uber and next thing she knew, she woke up face down in a pile of vomit," said Hirsch.

Hirsch did not go to the hospital or report the incident to police.

Anderson and her girlfriend did the following morning.

"They were pretty certain that someone put something in our drink, and they believed that it was GHB," she said doctors told them.

GHB is short for gamma-hydroxybutyrate.

Both GHB and Rohypnol, another drug used, are central nervous system depressant drugs commonly used to incapacitate people.

"Those leave the system pretty quickly," said Dr. Ralph Riviello. "You know, 12 hours later that may be totally out of the system and not detectable."

Dr. Riviello is now the chair of emergency medicine at UT Health San Antonio. In 2003, he co-founded the Philadelphia Sexual Assault Response Center, which assists victims of sexual assault.

He said many ERs don't have the lab and testing equipment to test for drugs like GHB.

"They're very expensive tests to run," said Dr. Riviello. "You need a lot of experience and checks and balances of your equipment and calibration."

Anderson first posted about her experience on social media to warn other women.

"The post just completely took off," she said. "I kept getting messages from other people that saw my post on Facebook telling me they had similar experiences."

Captain Margo Alleyne Parker, who runs the Special Victims Unit at the Philadelphia Police Department, told the Action News Investigative Team that her department has not seen an uptick in reports but that doesn't mean there's not an increasing problem.

"We see a lot of information on social media, and we will want those people to come forward to make a report," Parker said.

She said police don't track data on reports or incidents of "bar druggings," even if there is a related crime, like rape or robbery.

Parker said investigating can be difficult, especially due to delays in reporting and testing.

Police investigated Anderson's case but after reviewing video of the packed bar, detectives were unable to find evidence of a crime.

"It's exactly why people are scared to make a report in the first place because you get blamed for something that you know isn't right," said Anderson. "I know something happened to our drinks. I know that."

Experts said people can take precautions while out. Drink covers are available online to help protect your drink, and there are also drug test strips and bracelets that you can buy to test drinks while at a bar. They range in price.

In July, California became the first state to pass a new law requiring bars to offer drug test kits to its customers.